I was in a used bookstore that happened to have boxes of old photographs for sale. I bought a couple, mostly for artsy reasons, but then there was this.
I bought it thinking it might be a bit of queer history, but I’m not totally sure. I tried looking into it but couldn’t find anything.
A description of the photo: three people stand in front of a place with a brightly lit sign that says “Unisex Club” and “Topless Men & Bottomless Girls”. Not much can be made out of the surroundings because it is nighttime, but there are many brightly lit signs stretching out in the distance. The one immediately behind them says “JAZZ” I think. It reminds me of the boardwalk, since it appears to be all single story buildings in a long row, but I really can’t tell where they are with any confidence. Could be anywhere.
On the back of the photo I can make out “Print made by Kodak AUG74C”. So I’m assuming it’s from the 70s.
Can anyone tell me what a unisex club is? Is it a gay bar, or something else? Were they widespread? In what sense are they using the word unisex?
Hope it’s ok to include the link to the photo, since it’s an important part of my question. Wasn’t sure if this should be tagged NSFW, since there’s nothing “graphic” about the photo. First time posting so I hope I did alright!
There's not a lot to say about it. The Unisex Club was a seedy strip club situated on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, between 1983 1971 and 1990 (at least). It had male and female strippers, who seemed to have simulated sex acts on stage. Neighbouring clubs were called The Orgy, Papa Joe's Female Impersonators, and Marie Laveau's Voodoo Shop.
It made the news in 1982-1983 when Akin Ra-Akbar, a black employee, was beaten by four police officers called by residents who believed he was trying to burglarize the place (he was actually nailing shut a door that had come lose from the hinges) (St. Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune, 20 June 1983). Otherwise, the club (and others) showed up in the newspapers when politically conservative conventions were held in New Orleans, as journalists tried to see whether convention attendees were patronizing the clubs.
The GOP convention of August 1988
Chicago Tribune, 16 August 1988
''Home-grown, no silicone!'' shouts Barry Whatley, the doorman at the Unisex Club. A faded sign in the window promises ''world famous love acts.'' The Republicans who crowd the narrow street greet Whatley with a glance, a grin or a grimace. Then they shuffle on, past the "'Girls, Girls, Girls"' sign next door, sipping Hurricanes through straws, sweating in their nylons and suit coats. "Man," says Whatley, loosening his necktie with an index finger, ''these people are gonna walk up and down mega times and not go in anywhere. But I predict ''- and his voice rings with conviction - ''I predict that Tuesday and Wednesday's gonna be "yeah yeah" time. Damn, by then they've seen it all, and they've bought enough T-shirts to last a lifetime.''
It has been one of the convention's most persistent, if joking, questions: How would the allegedly staid Republicans cope with bawdy Bourbon Street?
A partial answer walks up in the form of Joyce Lewis, delegate from Pennsylvania.
"Home-grown, no silicone!" shouts Whatley, waving Lewis in. She stops, she stares, she shrugs, she enters, her husband at her heels.
On a tiny stage, in a yellow light, a naked man and a naked woman bump and grind. Sooner than you can say "world famous love acts," Lewis mutters: "I gotta get out of here. I hope nobody took my picture.''
Back on the sidewalk, she shakes her head and laughs. "Well," she says, "it's not Pittsburgh."
The Times and Democrat, 14 August 1988.
It was a similar story across the street at the Unisex club, where actual women do the writhing but the early crowd that is, pre-1 a.m. was a tad thin. "They're just walking the street right now," said doorman Barry Whatley. "But we'll catch 'em later after they've had a few Hurricanes."
The Des Moines Register, 14 August 1988.
Another man, a barker named Colt, standing outside the Unisex Club on Bourbon Street ("Topless and Bottomless Men & Women"), was giving his rap to the passing crowd, trying to lure them in. Republicans? "Who needs them? They're going to be in session from 8 to midnight, the prime hours on Bourbon Street. And they'll be down at the fancy hotels and restaurants, and we'll get nothing. They supposed to believe in the trickle-down? Well, ain't nothing much going to trickle down here."
The Southern Baptist Convention of June 1990
The Charlotte Observer, 12 June 1990.
Messengers on Monday seemed largely immune to the tourist attractions of New Orleans A few convention name tags were spotted on Bourbon Street as messengers braved the steamy bayou heat to stroll past the French Quarter's racier attractions: gay bars, transvestite shows, sex clubs, mud-wrestling parlors. Most appeared to avoid Marie Laveau's Voodoo Shop with its alligator-tooth talismans and black hex candles. Business also looked slow at the Unisex Club where an enthusiastic hawker promised equal-opportunity nudity. "Come on ladies", he called in vain. "Topless and bottomless men and women. We've got something for everyone".
Not much more to say I guess.
Sources
Edit: mentioned in the Carmel Pine Cone of Feb 25, 1971.